Safety Net Connect (SNC), a leading provider of innovative healthcare technology solutions, is honored to be recognized by the “2020 Inaugural List of Most Innovative Companies in Healthcare” for their Converge platform that integrates eReferral, eConsult, and televisit technologies into a single virtual care solution.

The 2020 listing of Most Innovative Companies in Healthcare includes 60 companies from 30 different categories of innovation within the medical industry. The listing was created by David Shulkin, M.D., President of Shulkin Solutions LLC and the Ninth Secretary of the US Department of Veterans Affairs. This is the first year that this list has been released.

“With a worldwide pandemic underway, we are seeing more innovation in our healthcare system than any other period in history,” said Dr. David Shulkin. “There has never been a more important time in healthcare and this recognition is just one way of acknowledging those companies that are rising to the challenge.”

SNC was recognized with the category of “Integrated System Tools” for their efforts to improve care coordination among healthcare providers and healthcare systems, as well as the many differing technology platforms in use between them.

“Safety Net Connect is committed to improving healthcare quality, efficiency and communication through the use of innovative technology,” explained Chris Cruttenden, President of SNC. “This recognition is further validation that we’re fulfilling our mission. We’re honored to be included among the nation’s leading healthcare organizations — especially at such a critical time.”

About the 2020 Most Innovative Companies in Healthcare Report
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, more people are looking towards innovative ways of diagnosing and treating disease, digital engagements to improve the patient experience, and new models of care delivery. Globally there is increasing growth in healthcare companies. In the third quarter of 2020, there were more than 1500 new investments in healthcare organizations totaling 21.8 billion dollars. This was an increase from second quarter investments in healthcare of just over 18 billion dollars. Read the complete 2020 Most Innovative Companies in Healthcare Report here.

Safety Net Connect (SNC), a leading provider of innovative healthcare technology solutions, is pleased to announce David J. Shulkin, MD, will host an interactive “fireside chat” at the upcoming E-Consult Workgroup Meeting to be held virtually on November 16th 2020. This  free event will bring healthcare payers, providers, policymakers and patient advocates from across the nation together to examine best practices for utilizing eConsult technologies to safely and rapidly improve access to care during the COVID-19 pandemic — as well as into the future.

Kicking off the meeting with an early morning session Dr. Shulkin, an internationally-recognized expert in system transformation and data-driven quality improvement, will engage participants in a discussion of how e-consult provides an answer to specialty care access in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. During his session, Dr. Shulkin will share lessons learned from his experience as the ninth Secretary of the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

“We all know increasing safe, rapid access to care has never been more important,” shares Dr. Shulkin. “I’m honored to lead this discussion examining how asynchronous eConsult paired with synchronous telehealth technologies can provide a truly sustainable solution to some of our nation’s most significant healthcare challenges.”

As Secretary of the VA, Dr. Shulkin improved systems capacity and infrastructure to expand timely access to primary, specialty and behavioral healthcare providers for our nation’s veterans. This “whole person” approach to coordinated healthcare had a dramatic impact on outcomes and patient satisfaction — raising trust in VA services from 46 to 70% during his tenure.

“We’re grateful to the California Health Care Foundation for their support of the E-Consult Workgroup and Toolkit,” shared Keith Matsutsuyu, CEO and co-founder of SNC. “And we’re truly honored to have Dr. Shulkin — a physician who has dedicated his career to improving health and wellness for all patients — join us for what promises to be an insightful and interactive discussion.”

Free registration is open now for the E-Consult Workgroup Annual Meeting and Dr. Shulkin’s session:
“Navigating a Changing Healthcare System with Lessons Learned from the Department of Veterans Affairs” at 8 AM PT | 9 AM MT | 10 AM CT | 11 AM ET.

Results of Inland Empire Health Plan’s (IEHP) study on the  multi-county eConsult initiative’s  (MCeI) utilization of the  Converge telehealth platform  from  Safety Net Connect  (SNC), a leading provider of innovative healthcare technology solutions, reveals a reduction in referrals for in-person specialist visits, and an increase in provision of “virtual care,” using electronic consultations (eConsults) between primary and specialty care physicians.

An analysis of data collected from the MCeI before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, published in the July 2020 Issue of the Journal of Clinical Outcomes Management, showed that on average 19% of eConsult visits met patient needs and an in-person visit was not needed; Before the pandemic only 11% were achieving this result. The analysis supports the use of Converge to create collaborative, coordinated treatment plans (without the need for an in-person visit). This saves patients travel time, reduces risk of COVID-19 exposure for patients and physicians, and reduces specialty care wait times. Overall, these findings represent an opportunity to reduce unnecessary specialty visits, during and beyond the pandemic — increasing the scheduling capacity of specialists to see patients who require in-person care.

“At IEHP, increasing access to care is top priority,” explained Susie White, IEHP Chief Operations Officer. “MCeI is just one example of how we are embracing innovative technologies that can change the way we deliver care — while maintaining the highest level of quality and safety for our members and providers.”

MCeI, a collaborative between IEHP, Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, and Riverside University Health System, aims at improving access to specialty care for the safety-net population across San Bernardino and Riverside counties. MCeI is delivered using SNC’s “Converge” telehealth platform that integrates eReferral, eConsult and Televisit technologies into a single virtual care solution. Initially launched in 2018, following a competitive selection process, MCeI has grown rapidly with more than 600 physicians at 86 IEHP clinics in rural and urban settings. These physicians all currently use Converge to access virtual specialist care across 38 specialties — as well as to obtain timely appointments for in-person specialty care when necessary. To date, SNC’s Converge platform has enabled over 60,000 eConsults and eReferral visits.

“When we created Converge to increase health equity and access to care — we didn’t envision the role it would someday play in reducing patient or provider exposure during a pandemic,” shared Chris Cruttenden, President of SNC. “Honestly, we are just honored to be able to help support the critical work of all of the providers within the Multi-County eConsult Initiative.”

About IEHP
IEHP, Inland Empire Health Plan, is one of the top 10 largest Medicaid health plans and the largest not-for-profit Medicare-Medicaid plan in the country. With a network of more than 6,400 Providers and more than 2,000 employees, IEHP serves more than 1.2 million residents in Riverside and San Bernardino counties who are enrolled in Medicaid or Cal MediConnect Plan (Medicare-Medicaid Plan). Through a dynamic partnership with Providers and Community, award-winning service and innovative products, IEHP is fully committed to advocating for our Members and providing them with quality, accessible and wellness-based health care services. For more information, visit iehp.org.

In partnership with the  Coalition of Orange County Community Health Centers  (The Coalition),  Safety Net Connect (SNC), a leading provider of innovative healthcare technology solutions, is pleased to announce the Orange County Partners in Health (OCPH) Health Information Exchange (HIE) has achieved certification from the  California Trusted Exchange Network  (CTEN).

“Many of the patients we serve already experience disparities in health care; matters that are being exacerbated by the nationwide COVID-19 pandemic,” explained Isabel Becerra, CEO of the Coalition. “This effort will transform how we share health care information in Orange County and enable us to make a meaningful improvement in health outcomes for our communities.”

SNC, working with solution partner Electronic Health Network (EHN), has supported The Coalition with pro bono provision of technology infrastructure and support since the launch of the initial OCPH HIE pilot in early 2018. Together SNC and EHN provide the OCPH HIE with interoperability capability between participating health centers as well as access to the Carequality network. Achieving CTEN certification requires stringent adherence to the most rigorous technical standards for data exchange and marks a significant milestone in the growth of the OCPH HIE.

“Community health centers provide vital medical and behavioral health services within Orange County,” shared Mike Matull, HCCN Project Director at The Coalition. “We are excited to be able to further support their important work by building a sustainable HIE that serves organizations small and large across our region. Safety Net Connect has played an invaluable role in making that happen.”

At present, large regional HIEs have been unable to effectively serve a large group of community-based health centers caring for the traditionally underserved and uninsured patients in Orange County. The OCPH HIE seeks to change that by expanding access and membership to other stakeholders in Orange County — with potential future expansion to neighboring counties. Facilitating the exchange of clinical data at the point-of-care between traditionally under-resourced, high-volume community health centers will increase care coordination, reduce redundant services, and further support delivery of the highest quality patient care.

“This project and our work with The Coalition represents our ongoing commitment to the Orange County clinic community,” explained Keith Matsutsuyu, CEO of SNC. “We have been honored to support The Coalition and their mission for years — and will continue to assist wherever we can.”

About The Coalition of Orange County Community Health Centers:
Since 1974, The Coalition of Orange County Community Health Centers (The Coalition) has been working to ensure quality, affordable health care for low-income individuals in Orange County. Our vision is to be a representative of the community clinic safety-net providers in Orange County, and to provide leadership to assure that high quality services are available to the uninsured and medically underserved. The Coalition consists of 25 independent 501 (c) 3 non-profit health care organizations serving more than 70 sites serving over 370,000 patients with almost 1 million visits annually.

About Orange County Partners in Health:
In August of 2016, The Coalition was awarded a federal grant and the designation of Health Center Controlled Network (HCCN) for 10 of its members by the Health Resource and Service Agency (HRSA) and has since expanded to 12 members called the “Orange County Partners in Health” or OCPH. In early 2018 as a part of the HCCN grant requirements, OCPH developed a pilot Health Information Exchange (HIE) program to allow member clinics to exchange health information.

Safety Net Connect (SNC), a leading provider of innovative healthcare technology solutions, is pleased to announce that  Converge, its next-generation telehealth platform, is among the first virtual point-of-care solutions in the nation to deliver expanded access to secure patient data utilizing the Carequality Interoperability Framework. The telehealth evolution could not have come at a better time, as COVID-19 necessitates virtual healthcare delivery as a new standard in patient-centric care.

“Carequality was created to improve information exchange with the goal of enhancing the health of all Americans,” explained Dave Cassel, executive director of Carequality. “We’re pleased that Carequality is able to support Safety Net Connect’s innovation through connectivity and appropriate access to information. It’s exciting to see Carequality contribute to well-informed care via telehealth solutions, which can offer a safe and convenient option for patients and physicians.”

SNC’s new model of telehealth is especially important during the COVID-19 crisis, which disproportionately impacts underserved communities. SNC’s Converge system, now bolstered by the Carequality Interoperability Framework, allows providers to easily counsel, treat, and refer patients from the safety of their homes. Likewise, Converge reduces the likelihood of viral spread by bringing virtual care to high-risk locations such as correctional or long-term care facilities.

“Our adoption of Carequality doesn’t just translate into expanded access to patient data,” shares Chris Cruttenden, president of SNC. “We’re increasing access to high-quality healthcare that can be delivered safely and virtually at the point-of-care — essentially anytime and almost anywhere. This increases provider capacity at a critical time, and it’s a game changer for healthcare equity.”

A decade ago, Converge was the first commercially available eConsult technology available in the United States. Today, the Converge platform integrates eReferral, eConsult and Televisit technology into a comprehensive telehealth solution — enabling healthcare providers to provide high-quality patient care from nearly any location across the healthcare continuum, including hospitals, post-acute care facilities, and public and correctional health systems.

About Carequality
Carequality is a national-level, consensus-built, interoperability framework to enable exchange between and among health information networks. Carequality brings together diverse groups, including electronic health record vendors, record locator service providers and other types of existing networks, to determine technical and policy agreements to enable data to flow between and among networks, platforms and geographies. For more information, visit https://carequality.org/

Safety Net Connect (SNC), a leading provider of innovative healthcare technology solutions, is pleased to announce its adoption of the Carequality Interoperability Framework, a nation-wide, consensus-built, universal health data exchange that provides connection between disparate health data networks to expand sharing of patient information across the country. Among the first telehealth technology implementers in the U.S., SNC expands real-time access to patient data from over 2,800 hospitals, 50,000 clinics and more than 600,000 physicians with the Carequality connection. This timely venture addresses the growing need for safe, secure, and robust telehealth solutions during the COVID-19 pandemic and into the future.

“Carequality is leading healthcare information network interoperability and innovation,” said Chris Cruttenden, President of SNC. “Embracing this framework will strengthen SNC’s mission of facilitating communication between providers and patients to improve diagnoses and treatment, reduce unnecessary specialty visits, and expand equitable access to high-quality care.”

The Carequality Interoperability Framework facilitates swift and secure network-agnostic health information exchange between differing medical systems, providers, and technologies. SNC will leverage Carequality to increase real-time access to patient data for the thousands of healthcare providers across the nation utilizing their virtual care and care coordination solutions, including hospitals, post-acute care facilities, and public and correctional health systems.

Providers who utilize SNC’s Carequality-enhanced solutions will gain access to real-time patient data — supporting more-informed care for improved diagnoses, treatment and outcomes. This type of rapid, reliable data sharing is crucial in times like COVID-19 when virtual telehealth services are a necessary safety measure. Data-informed telehealth also plays a key role in the cost-effective delivery of quality healthcare to underserved and rural populations.

About Carequality
Carequality is a national-level, consensus-built, interoperability framework to enable exchange between and among health information networks. Carequality brings together diverse groups, including electronic health record vendors, record locator service providers and other types of existing networks, to determine technical and policy agreements to enable data to flow between and among networks, platforms and geographies. For more information, visit https://carequality.org/

Media Contact:
Kristine Nash-Wong
734-904-4137
kristine.nash.wong@safetynetconnect.com

Journal of Clinical Outcomes Management. 2020 July;27(4):163-165
Author(s):
 Stanley Frencher, MD, MPH
 Waheed Baqai, MPH
 Lisa Aubry
 Desiree E. Sanchez, MD
 Alvin Kwong, MPH
 Sajid Ahmed, CHCIO

From the Multi-County eConsult Initiative, Rancho Cucamonga, CA.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many health care professionals and their patients to use telehealth and virtual care to address care needs in new ways.¹ To shed light on care coordination decisions with respect to specialty resource access, we analyzed data collected from the Multi-County eConsult Initiative (MCeI)—the second-largest electronic consultation (eConsult) program in the United States—before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our analysis of these data suggests opportunities for improving access to care and reducing unnecessary costs in the health system nationally.

The Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) launched MCeI (econsultie.com) in 2018. The initiative is a partnership between IEHP, Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, and Riverside University Health System aimed at improving access to specialty care for the safety-net population across San Bernardino and Riverside counties. IEHP is 1 of the 10 largest Medicaid health plans and the largest not-for-profit Medicare-Medicaid plan in the country, serving more than 1.2 million members.² Data from MCel reveal the impacts of COVID-19 on eConsult use and offer insights into specialty resource availability during and outside of a crisis.

At the time of this analysis, 86 IEHP clinics in rural and urban settings across 38 specialties used the eConsult process to provide and obtain virtual specialty care, as well as timely appointments for in-person specialty care.³ eConsults are facilitated through a HIPAA-secure web-based portal that enables communication and sharing of information between the primary care provider (PCP) and a specialist. eConsult gives PCPs virtual access to specialists to coordinate care for their patients and determine the need for in-person specialty visits. Through the PCP-specialist eConsult dialogue, patients gain virtual access to specialty care. If a PCP-specialist care team determines the patient needs an in-person visit, that specialty referral is automatically authorized by IEHP, without the need for further review. At IEHP, eConsult is the primary method used for obtaining outpatient specialty referrals.

To analyze eConsult utilization before and during the pandemic, we gathered data from the MCeI program for the periods February 20–March 19, 2020, and March 20–April 19, 2020. Measures included eConsult volume and outcomes of eConsults (eConsults closed as referrals for face-to-face specialist visits versus eConsults closed without resulting in referrals for face-to-face specialist visits). Statistical analysis using chi-square tests for independence was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 25 (IBM, Armonk, NY).

The data show that after California’s stay-at-home order, issued on March 19, 2020,⁴ eConsult volumes initially decreased, reflecting a similar decrease in clinic visits and authorization requests submitted to IEHP. We observed a 4-week average of 1100 eConsults processed before the pandemic, and then a steep drop to a 4-week average of 500 eConsults processed after the stay-at-home order was issued. Despite the overall drop in the volume of eConsults submitted, demand for specialties like hematology and neurology remained high throughout the pandemic.

During the pandemic, certain specialties displayed rising rates of eConsults completed with specialists providing care recommendations to the PCP instead of resulting in a recommendation for a face-to-face (in-person or via telehealth) visit with a specialist (see Figure and Table). The trend of increasing eConsults that concluded without a face-to-face visit suggests newfound clinical consideration of limited medical resources, along with the desire to eliminate unnecessary risks of infection.

eConsults between PCPs and specialist reviewers via the IEHP portal resulted in higher rates of non-face-to-face recommendations. The specialist reviewers were able to provide treatment plans for PCPs to take care of patients without having to refer their patients to a specialist. This increase was significant across most of the specialties live on the MCeI program.

We believe that clinicians’ heightened awareness of the limitations of the US health care system should remain a key consideration and factor in medical decision-making about appropriate referrals after the pandemic has passed. The data demonstrate that the pandemic drove clinicians to make different decisions about referrals and care coordination. Physicians scrutinized individual cases more keenly and were not as quick to recommend a face-to-face visit. This awareness and consideration of specialty access before making a referral provides a valuable lesson. If this approach is applied to health care delivery post-pandemic, eConsults will help reduce unnecessary in-person specialist visits and will free up space and time for patients who genuinely do need in-person specialty care. In this way, eConsult will improve appropriate access to care for everyone and reduce unnecessary costs to the health care system at large.

An examination of eConsult utilization trends across Riverside and San Bernardino counties before and during the COVID-19 pandemic provides useful insights into how to reduce costs and improve access to care. Although the risk of exposure to COVID-19 currently presents a significant obstacle to obtaining in-person specialty care, pre-existing and long-standing barriers, such as long wait times and scarcity of specialists, remain critical issues to receiving care during and after the pandemic. The pandemic has proven eConsult’s value as a tool for effective care coordination. Leveraging provider-to-provider asynchronous communication offers an opportunity to reduce unnecessary utilization of scarce resources during and beyond the pandemic.

Corresponding author: Lisa Aubry, Aubry-L@iehp.org.
Financial disclosures: None.

Read the publication here

Safety Net Connect (SNC), a leading provider of innovative healthcare technology solutions, announces the expansion of its Converge “Next-Generation Telehealth” solution with integrated eReferral, eConsult, and Televisit telehealth technologies. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic SNC has enhanced the Converge platform to provide an end-to-end virtual care solution supporting the safe, secure, and rapid access to specialty care services.

“Because of the pandemic, many patients have delayed seeking care for medical conditions that have been unmanaged or exacerbated during the lock-down,” explained Stan Frencher, MD, MPH, CEO of HubMD – a virtual medical group of physician specialists. “And because these patients are often higher-risk, it’s critical that we provide high-quality, coordinated telehealth that is equal to (if not better than) an in-person consultation.”

Unlike a stand-alone Televisit solution, which simply changes the location of care without addressing issues of physician availability, referral management, and medical necessity of appointments, the Converge platform actually increases physician capacity and improves care delivery by:

• Incorporating eConsults as the first step of a specialty referral – As an asynchronous telehealth solution, eConsult enables a specialist to provide guidance and advice that will impact as many as 8-10 patients in an hour, while seeing patients face-to-face might result in only 8-10 visits per day.
• Decreasing the number of unnecessary specialist/patient visits – Often an initial specialty visit is used to gather necessary data or test results; eConsult shifts the pre-specialty work forward for a more informed, efficient first visit.
• Increasing ease-of-use for the Patient – When a specialty visit is required, Converge provides the patient with appointment reminders and a “one-touch” click to launch a HIPAA-secure Televisit.
• Improving ease-of-use for the Physician – Converge provides the primary care physician with the virtual care tools they need to continue to serve their patients and adapt to the rapidly evolving changes in healthcare.
• Increasing Equitable Access to High-Quality Care – with the combination of asynchronous to synchronous solutions, Converge both increases access and enhances physician-to-physician communication for optimal patient care.

“Moreover, by applying telehealth strategically and intentionally with vulnerable populations in mind” added Dr. Frencher, “we can ameliorate health inequities in access rather than see that divide widen.”

Safety Net Connect (SNC), a leading provider of innovative healthcare technology solutions, is pleased to announce their partnership with HubMD – a virtual medical group of physician specialists. This partnership increases access to specialty care by connecting medically underserved populations with HubMD specialists through SNC’s Converge Telehealth Platform. With this end-to-end solution, HubMD and SNC can rapidly respond to the increased need for COVID-19 consultation and referral requests (particularly among high-risk correctional healthcare patients), as well as the growing need for online access to specialty care for medical and behavioral conditions unrelated to the pandemic.

“Our partnership with SNC strengthens our mission of providing excellent specialty care to every patient – regardless of health status, income or resources,” explained Stan Frencher, MD, MPH, Chief Executive Officer, HubMD. “Using Converge eConsult our team of highly trained physicians can bring specialty care directly to the patient in their own medical home – wherever that may be.”

With integrated eConsult, eReferral and Televisit technology – the Converge telehealth platform enables care delivery in the primary care office or “medical home” (including correctional settings) which significantly reduces the patient’s need to travel. PCPs can securely contact HubMD’s team of specialists for an electronic peer-to-peer consultation and develop a care plan specific to the needs of each patient. And if a specialty appointment is deemed necessary, the patient can receive a real-time video consultation with a HubMD specialist physician right from the primary care office or medical home.

“We see a continually expanding shortage of specialists in medically underserved populations,” said Chris Cruttenden, President of SNC. “SNC developed Converge eConsult to fill that gap, and we are excited to be working with HubMD to improve timely access to high-quality specialty care for all patients.”

The partnership will benefit SNC, HubMD, and their clients, by broadening the scope of their offerings. HubMD will provide SNC’s clients with access to a broad panel of expert specialty physicians. Likewise, SNC’s Converge eConsult system will offer HubMD providers with a proven infrastructure for referral guidelines, decision support algorithms, health information and document attachments, and workflow management.

About HubMD
HubMD is a virtual medical group of physician specialists who care. We provide primary care physicians and healthcare facilities access to fully credentialed and licensed, board-certified specialist physicians. As a for profit medical group, our focus is on the safety net population. We partner with physicians and others to enhance care delivery. Our clients are public and private organizations including hospitals, health systems, and even correctional facilities. https://hubmd.org/about

Safety Net Connect (SNC), a leading provider of innovative healthcare technology solutions, America’s Physician Groups (APG), Gaine Healthcare and HubMD are pleased to announce the launch of an eConsult telehealth portal providing primary care physicians (PCPs) with no-cost, rapid, electronic access to specialty care consultations.

During the COVID-19 outbreak, health systems are experiencing increased volumes of infectious disease and pulmonology consultation and referral requests. In addition, there is a growing need for online access to specialty care for patients with medical and behavioral conditions unrelated to COVID-19. To support PCPs and help facilitate the critical, ongoing delivery of patient care during the coronavirus pandemic, this dedicated eConsult telehealth portal will provide a secure electronic connection between frontline healthcare providers and specialty physicians – often in less than 4 hours.

“We are all incredibly grateful to the healthcare providers and professionals putting themselves in harm’s way during this challenging time,” says Chris Cruttenden, President of SNC. “We feel both honored and mission-bound to provide any assistance we can to support the critical, life-saving work of those on the front-line of this pandemic.”

eConsults connect PCPs with specialists who provide responses to their questions, often preventing patients from having to schedule, and endure long wait times for face to face visits. Providers can launch eConsult in a virtual training session lasting less than 30 minutes and can begin submitting eConsults immediately. Specialists can be onboarded in the same amount of time and spend, on average, 10 minutes or less responding to an eConsult request – enabling specialists to consult on more patient cases, increasing their capacity tenfold while reducing the need for face-to-face interactions.

One of the first and largest eConsult systems in the nation, SNC has conducted over 1.3 million eConsults on the platform. SNC has successfully served over 10 million Medicaid, low-income and underserved patients, engaged with thousands of primary care and specialty providers, and implemented enterprise-level eConsult platforms for the second and third largest Medicaid health systems, LA County, California and Cook County, Illinois. Additionally, SNC has recently implemented the eConsult solution in California’s Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

About America’s Physician Groups
America’s Physician Groups is a not-for-profit, mission-driven association organized to assist accountable physician groups to improve the quality and value of healthcare provided to patients. America’s Physician Groups represents and supports physician groups that assume responsibility for clinically integrated, comprehensive, and coordinated healthcare on behalf of our patients. In California, APG represents over 180 physician groups across the state. Visit us at www.apg.org.

About Gaine Healthcare
Gaine helps leading healthcare organizations, life sciences, and biotech companies leverage information as they strive for competitive advantage and operational efficiency. Gaine’s Coperor™ platform arms its clients with Information Agility™ which maximizes flexibility, minimizes cost and time-to-value, and eliminates the risks associated with implementing new systems, migrating existing systems, and integrating data from internal and external sources. For more information, please visit gainehealthcare.com.

About HubMD
HubMD is a virtual medical group of physician specialists who care. We provide primary care physicians and healthcare facilities access to fully credentialed and licensed, board-certified specialist physicians. As a for profit medical group, our focus is on the safety net population. We partner with physicians and others to enhance care delivery. Our clients are public and private organizations including hospitals, health systems, and even correctional facilities. hubmd.org/about

Safety Net Connect (SNC), a leading provider of innovative healthcare technology solutions, is pleased to announce Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) has expanded their contract for the landmark multi-county eConsult initiative that has significantly increased timely access to specialty care for Southern California residents. In addition, Arrowhead Regional Medical Center (ARMC) – a longtime healthcare system partner in the initiative – has contracted with SNC directly. With this agreement, ARMC is expanding their utilization of the eConsult platform, as well as the SNC eReferral management system (or “eCRM”) to more efficiently manage referrals from community providers to the ARMC system.

“With physician shortages in our region among the highest in the country, coordinating specialty care for our Members can be challenging,” said Susie White, IEHP Chief Operations Officer. “Our collaboration to expand eConsult in our two counties helps us to eliminate traditional barriers between Primary Care Providers and Specialists, ensuring an organized and streamlined process for Members to receive care, when they need it. eConsult is really one of the great tools we have that allow us to continue to provide quality and care and services for our Members.”

Initially launched in March, 2018 using  SNC’s Converge eConsult platform, the multi-county program has experienced a rapid rate of adoption and expansion. In partnership with local healthcare systems ARMC and Riverside University Health System (RUHS), 85 sites and more than 600 providers are now using the Converge platform with over 38 specialties and 5,000 eConsults completed every month. In addition to speeding timely access to specialty care, using the Converge eConsult platform reduces the number of unnecessary specialty visits – which in turn, increases the capacity of specialists to engage with more patients in need of intensive or complex care.

“We were excited to be one of the pilot providers, and now a direct partner, of this innovative program,” shared ARMC Associate Hospital Administrator, Staci McClane. “The eConsult system delivers on everything we want from a technology: increasing access, reducing disparities, improving care and delivering better outcomes.”

About IEHP
IEHP, Inland Empire Health Plan, is a top 10 largest Medicaid health plan and the largest not-for-profit Medicare-Medicaid plan in the country. With a network of more than 6,400 providers and more than 2,000 employees, IEHP serves more than 1.2 million residents in Riverside and San Bernardino counties who are enrolled in Medicaid or Cal MediConnect Plan (Medicare-Medicaid Plan). Through a dynamic partnership with providers and community, award-winning service and innovative products, IEHP is fully committed to advocating for our members and providing them with quality, accessible and wellness-based health care services. For more information, visit www.iehp.org.

About Arrowhead Regional Medical CenterArrowhead Regional Medical Center is a 456-bed university-affiliated teaching hospital licensed by the State of California Department of Public Health, operated by the County of San Bernardino, and governed by the Board of Supervisors. It is ARMC’s mission, in an environment of learning and innovation, to serve our diverse community with high-quality compassionate care. The hospital, located on a 70-acre campus in Colton, California, operates the Edward G. Hirschman burn center, a level II trauma center, primary stroke center, a behavioral health center, and five primary care centers. ARMC also provides more than 40 outpatient specialty care services. ARMC is helping to achieve the Countywide Vision by addressing the community’s wellness and educational needs. ARMC is the primary teaching hospital for the California University of Science and Medicine (CUSM). The University welcomed its first class of students in 2018. The School of Medicine is an allopathic (M.D.) school, and is the first new, privately funded, not-for-profit medical school to earn accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) since 1949. For more information on CUSM visit www.cusm.org. For more information about ARMC visit www.arrowheadmedcenter.org. Follow ARMC on Twitter at @ArrowheadRMC for important announcements and updates, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/arrowheadregional